Federal judge stalls USDA reorg — for now

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<p>A U.S. federal judge on Sept. 14 hit the brakes on sweeping reorganization measures at the Agriculture Department, issuing a temporary stay amid ongoing litigation.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria issued an administrative stay in the Northern District of California court, where federal unions filed the latest in a series of lawsuits alleging government officials acted illegally against the federal workforce. Union representatives argue <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reorganization/2026/09/federal-unions-sue-again-to-block-usda-reorganization/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">USDA’s complex reorganization plan</a> unlawfully forces thousands of agency employees to choose between undertaking long-haul relocations or losing their jobs.</p>
<p>“Defendants shall not take any action to implement, carry out, effectuate, or enforce those deadlines, including proceeding with any termination, separation, or other disciplinary proceeding against an employee, or placing an employee on Absent Without Leave status, based on the employee’s decision to decline reassignment, not to respond to a notice of reassignment, or not to relocate,” Chhabria wrote in the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.478356/gov.uscourts.cand.478356.56.0.pdf">administrative stay order</a>, which extends through Oct. 2.</p>
<p>USDA’s multi-part plan includes relocating approximately 2,600 employees currently based in the Washington, D.C. area, accounting for more than half of USDA personnel in the region. Those employees would move to agency hubs across the country; some 90% of the USDA workforce already works outside the National Capital Region.</p>

<p>“USDA knows and intends these moves will cause significant attrition among existing USDA staff, depriving the agency of a wealth of knowledge, experience and the ability to perform its statutorily authorized and mandated functions,” plaintiff attorneys wrote in their Sept. 8 lawsuit calling for a preliminary injunction. “The closure of offices and facilities and forced relocation of USDA employees … are contrary to law and exceed USDA’s constitutional and statutory authority,” violating congressional rules on agency authorities, including the Administrative Procedure Act.</p>
<p>Plaintiff groups in the latest lawsuit include the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the National Federation of Federal Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union — all unions representing employees in various USDA components affected by the reorganization.</p>
<p>Language in Chhabria’s order explicitly states the administrative stay applies only to specific USDA components: the Food and Nutrition Administration; Research, Education and Economics mission area; Forest Service; Foreign Agricultural Service; Rural Development mission area; Farm Production and Conservation mission area; Office of the General Counsel; and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.</p>
<p>According to the order, the stay will provide the court “time to address the merits of Plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion, and accommodate Defendants’ requested additional time for briefing.”</p>
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Decides which products and services federal agencies must buy from nonprofit agencies that employ people who are blind or have significant disabilities: it maintains the Procurement List published in the Federal Register and sets the fair market price for everything on it. Orders are distributed through two designated central nonprofit agencies.

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The Administration for Children and Families is an operating division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It administers federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of children, youth, families, and communities, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Head Start, child care, child support enforcement, foster care and adoption assistance, refugee resettlement, and services for Native Americans. It was established in 1991 through a reorganization of the Department.

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The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency that studies the administrative procedures of federal agencies and develops recommendations to improve the fairness, efficiency, and transparency of regulatory, benefit, and other government programs. Its members are drawn from federal agencies, academia, and private practice. It was established by the Administrative Conference Act of 1964 and operates under 5 U.S.C. 591 and following.

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The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. It collects federal excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition and regulates the production, labeling, advertising, and importation of alcohol and tobacco products. It was established on January 24, 2003, under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which split the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and retained the tax and trade functions in the Treasury.

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The American Printing House for the Blind is a private nonprofit corporation that holds a federal charter and serves as the official national source of educational materials for students who are legally blind and enrolled in programs below the college level. It produces and distributes braille and large-print textbooks, educational aids, and assistive technology, funded through an annual federal appropriation administered by the Department of Education. It was chartered by Congress in 1879.

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